Posts by Brendan Doyle

The Caps came into Thursday’s Game Four in their series against Columbus looking to even things up. Thankfully, the Caps decided to spare us overtime in a strong performance from start to finish.

Top-line Tommy Wilson started us off with a blistering one-timer to the top corner.

In the second period, TJ Oshie finished a delightful flurry on the power play to extend the Caps lead to 2-0.

In the third, Alex Ovechkin gave the Caps some much-needed insurance, beating Sergei Bobrovsky five-hole. Then, Boone Jenner tipped a point shot past Braden Holtby to cut the lead to two. But Evgeny Kuznetsov would score an empty-net goal to seal the deal.

Thursday afternoon, the NHL announced the finalists for the Norris Trophy, the award given to the best defenseman in the league. The Capitals’ John Carlson, the league leader in points from the blue line, was not included.

Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty, Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman, and Nashville’s PK Subban were the three defensemen named finalists by the league.

The Philadelphia Flyers went into Game Four of their first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins down 2-1 and looking to turn a best-of-seven series into a best-of-three. But, after a dominating 5-0 Penguins win Wednesday, the Flyers are on the brink of elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Evgeni Malkin started the show early, scoring a PPG just under five minutes in.

The Vegas Golden Knights and the Winnipeg Jets are not the most similar of teams: one a brash, upstart expansion team from the desert, the other finally starting to find its way after moving from Atlanta seven years ago.

However, heading into the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday, they had one important thing in common — neither franchise had won a playoff game. In fact, the teams were the only two without an NHL postseason victory.

When asked why he would sign with the team now rather than wait for free agency in a few months, Pinho admitted it was his ambition to play for Washington.

“It was my dream when I was drafted to play here,” he said. “I still have the draft jersey framed in my room. I look at it every day. It’s a dream of mine to play for the Caps, and I’m glad to be here.”

TJ Oshie has been hot as of late, which is not something he has been able to say much this season. He has suffered goal-less droughts of 14 and 19 games, respectively, and had a stretch of 34 games during which he did not score a single five-on-five goal. Fortunately, the winger has finally turned the corner, scoring five goals and tallying eight points in his past eight games.

What might have caused this turnaround? To Oshie, the answer is a longer, stiffer stick.

With a 4-2 loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack Sunday, the Hershey Bears were eliminated from AHL postseason contention with eight games left in the regular season. This marks the first time since 2013-2014 and just the 13th time in their 80 years that the Bears will not be taking part in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine came into tonight’s game against the Kings tied with Alex Ovechkin for the league lead in goals. Not only did Laine finish the night in second place in the Maurice “Rocket” Richard race, but the Finn also came out worse for wear physically.

Laine left the contest in the second period after blocking a shot with his right ankle. He would not return to the game.